The Senator and Her Jedi
by Sadainea
Summary: REY! WHAT HAPPENED! Ben's voice was panicked in her head. She could see him, in her mind pacing in circles in his room, scared for her and worried she was dying. I fell.
1. Chapter 1

A/N - GUESS WHAT! Sequel TIME! If you haven't read The General and Her Jedi, I would suggest taking a look at that one first because you will be so lost if you don't. Sorry this has taken so long but, ya know, life. Feel free to shoot me a message or a review, I live on both. This story is complete, but bear with me while I get all of it uploaded. It is multiple chapters. So without further adieu...I give you...The Senator and Her Jedi.

Rey, perched on a thin ledge in the star destroyer, the same place she had scavenged before the war, and turned slowly back towards the rope that would let her down. She steadied herself with a hand on the wall, and lept, catching the rope in both hands, and between her thighs. It took very little time for her to reposition herself and begin to slide down. What she hadn't counted on, was how old the rope was. Nor had she anticipated the rope snapping when she was still about four and a half meters off the ground.

She fell hard, and heard the telltale _crack _of her ribs and pop of her shoulder as she hit the metal ground. She just managed to shield her head from the hard metal with her arm before everything she knew was blinding, searing pain through most of her body. Her ears rang and she couldn't catch her breath.

_REY! WHAT HAPPENED?! _Ben's voice was panicked in her head. She could see him, in her mind pacing in circles in his room, scared for her and worried she was dying.

_I fell._ She grumbled and very, very carefully stood off the ground, trying not to jostle her shoulder or bend the wrong way with her newly injured rib cage.

_You're hurt._

_You think so? _She thought back, her response full of thick sarcasm that she didn't even try to hide.

_Come to Coruscant, please. I've been telling you for the last five years that it is time for you to come home. If you were here, then you could be seen by a professional, instead of the quack jobs you have there._

_I am home, Ben. I have never been to Coruscant before, so I can't call it home._

_Damn it, Rey. You know what I mean. Your family is here. Your friends are here. _

_Your mother is there._

_I know that. I have been telling you for five years that she doesn't hate you. _

_If she wanted to see me, then she would have contacted me when the war ended three years ago. Face it, Ben, you're mother and I are over, and I will probably never go to Coruscant. I am fine here._

_You are fine in a place that is slowly killing you? How am I supposed to react to that, Rey? You mean the world to me, and all of your friends. None of us want to see you dead and you are moving very quickly towards it._

Rey scooped up the few items she had found to be useful and dropped them into a bag, which she dragged over to her speeder and hefted, rather painfully, into the netting along the side. Afterwards she nearly collapsed trying to breathe and not pass out.

_Rey, please. I know that you would be welcomed here with open arms. You are a Jedi. No one would bat an eye at you being here. _

_The answer is still no. I am fine where I am. _

_Fine. _

The connection cut off abruptly as Rey dragged herself into to seat of her speeder and took off back towards Niima. She didn't see Ben on the other side, turn around quickly and throw a heavy marble statuette at a wall. She didn't see him collapse to the floor with tears in his eyes, wondering how he was going to keep her alive.

He had been trying for years to convince Rey to come to Coruscant. Nothing had worked. It was almost tempting to got to his mother and tell her to send Rey a transmission telling her to pack her butt up and come home. Almost. He also knew that Rey would be furious with him for telling his mother anything about her. He didn't feel like having a matching scar on the other side of his face for not respecting her wishes about it.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - SOOO, here is chapter 2 and I just realized I left the disclaimer out of the first chapter. I don't own Star Wars, blah blah blah. If I did I wouldn't be living in south Georgia in the US.

Nothing on Jakku had changed in the last five years. Everyone was still the same lowlife scum they had been before she left. She supposed she included herself in that statement, she was a low life too, though she knew that a lot had changed in her. She still felt the gaping hole in her heart where her former lover had been, but she had learned very quickly that, out here, in the middle of nowhere, it didn't matter. The only thing that people cared about out here was food and water. Feelings were the last things on anyone's mind. So she suffered in silence, did her work, ended up with broken bones and cuts and bruises more often than not, but didn't care. The pain was a blessing anymore. Something to remind her that she was still alive in the desolation that her life had become.

She stopped, just outside the cluster of stalls and tents, jumping off her speeder and walking over to a sympathetic owner who could set her shoulder for her. He never asked for payment, at least, not in the same way as others in this outpost would have asked. His idea of payment was her help in fixing whatever he was working on at the time. The korunnai man was known only by the name Kovii and while he and Rey were not friends, they were by far more friendly to each other than to anyone else.

She leaned against a post on his stall as she spoke, "I need a favor."

"Yeah? What did you break this time?" The dark skinned man chuckled lightly without

looking up at her.

"I think I have a couple of broken ribs and I dislocated my shoulder."

"Doesn't surprise me. " he grunted. "You always manage to break something."

He stood, laying down whatever gadget he had been fidgeting with, and wrapped strong hands around her arm. It didn't take long before she grunted as she heard the _POP _of her shoulder sliding back into the socket. It was painful, but she refused to give the scumbags watching their interaction the pleasure of hearing her scream.

"So," Kovii sat back down on his stool. "What can you do for me that will make me give you something for those ribs of yours?"

She reached out, and picked up the microbinocular that he had been working on. "What's wrong with it?"

"Can't get the damn thing to connect to Treadwell anymore."

Rey glanced down at it, then walked over to the droid and inspected the area. "Your cabling isn't compatible, and the socket that you are trying to plug this into is damaged. You need a new one, and you need to get the proper cables."

"Get out of here, girl." he grunted, and tossed her the tablets she needed.

"A pleasure, as always Kovii." she grinned and bowed mockingly, careful of her injured side.

Rey walked back to her speeder and popped the drugs in her mouth, swallowing them quickly. While it wasn't the most recommended method for mending broken bones, it was a quick fix that would have her ready to get back out into the destroyer tomorrow.

"LET GO!"

"I DON'T WANNA GO WITH YOU!"

Two children, both girls, were screaming as Unkar Plutt dragged them through the sand, back to his stall, his strong hands wrapped around one of each of the girl's arms. It brought back memories of when she had been left here. He forced them into the cage where, Rey knew from experience, he would keep them until they learned their place. She shook her head, knowing better than to get involved in this. She rubbed her hand absentmindedly across the burn scar on the back of her neck.

When she had returned five years ago, without the _Falcon_, Unkar had been beyond furious. Rey's body bore a lot more scars and she had been branded a thief with the 'X' on her neck. The torture that the man had put her through had done nothing to her really, at the time, having sunk so far into her depression over losing Leia that the pain had simply reminded her that she was alive. Her lightsaber had been left on the ship that Ban had given her, finding it a much better idea to not let anyone here know that she had it.

She pulled her parts from the netting and drug them over to her former captor's stand. She glanced at the two children as she waited in line to cash in on what she had found. They were sobbing and holding each other. The only thought that crossed her mind was that at least they had each other.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - me again. I have no Idea how many chapters this story is, because I was dumb and wrote it all in one file. So now I am breaking it up into chapters and it is taking forever.

Days passed and every time she cashed in for portions, she saw those two girls, stuck in their cage, watching the world around them ignore their existence. She tried to remind herself to stay cynical about it, to tell herself that it wasn't her business, but that wasn't working. She slowly found herself wanting to help the girls as much as she could. Their tear filled eyes haunted her, and brought back her own memories of being stuck in that cage. She knew what she had to do.

When she had taken Ben's ship those years ago, she had been surprised to find a droid onboard with her. BB-9E had become her constant companion. She wouldn't give up her droid. The ship however, was buried in the desert. If she wanted to help those girls, all she would have to do is trade the ship for them, wait in her AT-AT home with them, and send a message to Ben to have someone pick her up from Jakku. The question she had to ask herself was, was she ready to face everything that she had left behind. She wasn't the same person that had walked away from the Resistance five years before. She hadn't used her lightsaber since she had left, she barely spoke to Ben unless one of them was hurt or something was wrong, preferring to keep her own company than to relive the old memories that had been created with his mother.

It was a simple decision really, and the next day found her sitting in the pilot's chair of her ship, maneuvering it out of the sand and towards Niima. She set it down, near Kovii's stall and marched towards Unkar Plutt.

"I'll make you a deal."

"If it involves me getting my hands on that ship of your's, girl, then I'm listening." He rumbled.

"Give me the girls. The ones that you acquired a few days ago, and fifty portions, and it's yours."

Unkar pretended to think it over. She had known him long enough to tell that he was practically drooling at this bargain. "DEAL!" he snapped, and popped the top of the cage that the two girls were in. "If you have anything on board that you want, I suggest you get it now." he grinned. The only thing that Rey had needed off of it, had been her lightsaber, which was now safely tucked within her bag. Her speeder, she had asked BB-9E to hack into and drive from the netting on the side and would be pulling up any minute for her and the two children to run away on.

She knelt in front of the cage and offered a hand in to the two girls. One of them reached out and took it, pulling the other out with her. It didn't take long before Rey had her portions and the ship was no longer hers. Before she knew it she was headed back to her home in the sand, the children clinging to her, one in front of her, and one behind.

"What are your names?" She asked them when she got them inside and fed.

The one who had taken her hand, she seemed older than the other and spoke up first. "My name is Aisiris. My sister's name is Katalis." her voice was rough from under use and lack of water. Rey passed a bottle to her and watched as she drank greedily. "Why are you helping us?" Aisiris asked finally.

"Because I was the same as you once. I don't know how Unkar came to have you, but I know that my parents sold me for drinking money when I was about your age. I am very familiar with the cage you were in." Rey whispered.

"Are we slaves now?" Katalis's voice was very soft, and barely audible.

"No. You are not slaves. You are not servants. I don't own you and you don't owe me anything. I am just trying to help." She answered. "How old are you?"

"I'm seven." Aisiris answered proudly.

"This many!" Katalis held up five fingers

It astounded Rey, the ability that these children had to bounce back from the trauma that they faced. It wouldn't be long before they were on their way out of this desert and headed somewhere much different.

"Do you know your parents' names?"

Both shook their heads. "We don't know. We were traveling with a group of people, there were only two grown ups and lots of kids."

_Slave trade _Rey thought to herself, then smiled sadly at the two girls in front of her. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. I will look after you now." she told them.

"Are you going to be our Mom, now?" Katalis asked shyly.

"I-Well...I suppose, if that is what you want to call me then, sure. I can be your mom." the two children launched themselves at her, hugging her fiercely and refusing to let go. Rey found herself laughing with the two of them. It didn't take long before all three of them were falling asleep, seated on the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - Chapter 4

_Ben,_ Rey thought, initializing the connection.

_Rey, is everything ok?_

_I need a ship. _She thought back to him.

_What happened to the one you left with? It can't have broken already can it?_

Rey shook her head, when she had woken this morning Aisiris and Katalis were laying in her lap and she had, very carefully, lifted them one at a time and laid them in the hammock to sleep some more. Kriff knew that they needed it.

_No, it isn't. I had to trade it. _

_You traded a First Order ship? For what? That ship could have gotten you a lot of credits. Rey, why would you trade your only transportation out of there?_

She ran and hand through her hair. _I didn't have a choice. I had to. That's not the point, Ben._

_Then what is the point? _

_I want to come home._

Silence greeted that statement.

_Ben? Are you still there?_

_Yes. I'm on my way. I just sent a messenger to my mother to tell her I am leaving and I don't know how long I am going to be gone for. I am bringing Chewie with me. He will be glad to see you. Are you sure this is what you want, Rey? You want to come home?_

_I don't have much choice left, Ben. It isn't just my life I have to look out for now. _

_WHAT? Are you pregnant?_

_NO! Just...come get me ok? I will see you soon._

_Alright. I will be there as quickly as I can._

_Thank you._

The girls woke, shortly after the connection had been severed between them and the three of them sat down to talk some more.

"Mom, Are we going to live here forever now?" Aisiris asked quietly as she ate.

"No, I have asked some friends to come get us from here and take us somewhere...better. This place is not the place for children. I grew up here, I would know." Rey passed a plat of food over to Katalis who picked at it, but ate slowly. The youngest girl was quiet this morning and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her small fist. Rey smiled softly at her.

"Where will we go then? If we aren't going to live here, I mean." The elder of the two children asked.

"Well, we are going to Coruscant. I have some friends there that will help us for a while." she chuckled when both girls' eyes lit up and sparkled.

"REALLY?! We have never been there before." Aisiris shouted before slapping both hands over her mouth and looking away. "Sorry." she whispered.

"It's ok. I'm not mad, but maybe I should teach you to control those outbursts in the future, hmm? There are several things that I can teach you about learning to control yourself." she lifted her hand and the girls watched, wide eyed as a large orb flew into her hand.

She paused, looking at it and remembering the nightmare that had started her relationship with Leia to begin with. This orb, she had never quite figured out why she had kept it after she had killed the man that had intruded into her home. Shaking her head, she looked back at the children before her.

"Are...are you a Jedi?" Aisiris asked, her voice so quiet Rey could barely register that she had made a sound.

"I am." she answered. "Though I haven't practiced anything having to do with the Force or even touched my lightsaber in five years. Not since before the war with the First Order ended."

"Where do you learn to do that?" Katalis asked, just as quietly as her sister.

"Master Luke Skywalker taught me what he could, but there were many things that he refused to teach. You have both heard the story of Kylo Ren, who was Luke Skywalker's student right?" Both girls nodded. "Well, After Kylo betrayed Luke, Luke ran away and went into hiding. In order for him to teach me, I had to find him."

Both girls listened, enraptured, as Rey told them the story of a white and orange droid and a former storm trooper that had showed up and turned her life inside out.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N - Chapter 5

Ben paced through the halls of the political offices on Coruscant. His mother had requested that he wait until after her meeting was finished before he took off, apparently there was something that she needed to speak to him about, so he waited, outside the meeting doors, wearing a metaphorical hole in the carpet.

When the doors finally opened, he watched and waited, for his mother to exit the room. She never did. He growled and yanked the door open, stalking into the room to speak to her himself.

"Ben, you said that you were leaving for a while. Would you care to tell me why? Or perhaps where you are going?" Leia never looked up from her paperwork and Ben felt almost like he was 8 years old again, trying to get his mother's attention.

"No, I wouldn't. Not that it is your business anyway." He growled low in his throat. He had never quite forgiven her for the things that had happened when he was a child, or for hitting his best friend. He could still see Rey, walking proudly out of the caves, with her eye blackened and the stark red handprint on her face.

"I am your mother, Ben. It is my business and it will always be my business."

"I'm sorry, Senator," He sneered. "But I didn't realize that I had to have clearance to leave the planet? I thought that this was the New Republic, not the First Order. I didn't realize that the Senate kept tabs on everyone that was coming and going." Ben snapped.

"You don't have to have clearance. I would just like to know where to send a search party if you get hurt. I would like to know where to look for you if you go missing. You are my son and I care about what happens to you. You may not understand that, but I do care." She snapped back at him, finally raising her eyes and standing from behind her desk. "Please, Ben. Just tell me where you are going so that I don't have to worry."

"I'm going to rescue your ex-lover before she gets herself killed." He hissed at her.

Leia froze. Ben hadn't spoken to her about Rey since the younger woman left, while they were still on Hypori. She had wished, everyday, that she could get her son to tell her where her younger lover went, how she was doing, whether she was safe. The smiling face of the scavenger woman flashed through her mind and forced the older woman to shut her eyes.

"Is she hurt, ill?" the Senator whispered.

"Hurt, yes. She dislocated her shoulder a few days ago and I am sure she still has some broken ribs. She took those damn street pills to mend the bone, but I have no doubt that they healed wrong. She is still having trouble breathing sometimes." He answered.

"I am going with you." Leia said.

"Mother-"

"No, Ben. I have spent the last five years, praying to every deity that I know and the Force itself to bring her back to me. I have to go with you."

"And how do you think she is going to react to that? Seeing her former lover walk off the _Falcon_ to find her? How do expect her to respond. The last time she saw you, you gave her a black eye. She won't trust you anywhere near her." He reasoned.

"Then I will stay on the ship. Please, Ben. Let me go with you. I need to see that she is alright."

"And when we get back, I am certain that she is going to need to speak to you. You can see her then. I'm sorry Mother, but I only just convinced her to come home. I don't want to jeopardize that by having you with me when I go get her."

"Fine. I will wait here, but I want to see her as soon as you land. If she is willing to see me, that is. I don't want to pressure her."

"I doubt that she will be willing to see you. You hurt her, badly. You swore, repeatedly that you would never leave her, never abandon her, and yet instead of spending the last five years here with us, with her family, she has spent the last five years in exile on a desert planet barely surviving. And don't even get me started on the amount of times she has been injured while she was there." Ben started to walk out the door. "I will talk to her, but if she doesn't want to see you, then I won't force her. You forget, Mother, that I love her too. I may not be in love with her, but if ever I was to have a sister, she would be it."

"Be safe, Ben." Leia whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N - Chapter 7

The days passed quickly and the tentative bond that Rey had formed with her guests only deepened. The three found that together, they spent more time laughing and hugging each other than they had initially realized they would. Endless hours were spent with Rey telling the girls stories of her time with the Resistance and fighting the First Order. Aisiris and Katalis loved hearing the tales of Princess Leia and the brave fighters Po and Finn, but their favorite tale was of Kylo Ren and the battle in the throne room. Of course, because the girls were so young, Rey told them the edited versions of the stories, and even some about her childhood and teenage years here on Jakku.

They were all outside, Rey was teaching Aisiris how to build a staff of her own, while Katalis wandered around, picking up little rocks with the helmet that Rey had found as a child on her head.

"I did it!" the older of the two young girls shouted, her dark hair hung around her waist. Rey had pulled it back at the top to keep it out of her eyes, similar to the style that she herself now wore. Rey's eyes shone with pride when the girl snapped the last component into place and finished her staff. Blue eyes looked up at her expectantly, and Rey grinned down at her.

"Well done, love." she pressed a careful kiss into the dark hair, so much like her own. "Katalis, love, come here, please." Rey was overjoyed to watch the younger girl, who had been very hesitant the first few days with her, ran over to her and throw her arms up, wanting to be held. Rey wasted no time in lifting the girl into her arms and taking Aisiris's free hand. "What would the two of you say to some lunch?"

"Well, I don't know about them, but I would say I have better food on the _Falcon_." a familiar voice interrupted their cheers and Rey turned. Ben stood there, still favoring black for his wardrobe, grinning at her, with open arms. She set the child on her hip down next to her sister and ran to her best friend. He laughed as he scooped her into his arms and swung her around. "It's wonderful to see you, Rey!" He set her back on her feet and glanced over her shoulder. "Why don't you introduce me to the two young ladies that are staring at me like I've grown horns and we will get your things together and head to the _Falcon._" He whispered to her.

She led him over to where the girls were still standing and lifted the younger one back into her arms. "This is Katalis," she said, indicating the girl she was holding. "And this one here, is Aisiris."

"Force, Rey, she looks like a miniature you." Ben said, taking in the way Aisiris was dressed, the staff in her hand, and the hair style she was sporting.

"Yes well, they are my girls." she answered.

"A-Are you...Mom, is he Kylo Ren?" Aisiris whispered and Rey barked out a laugh while Ben looked slightly nauseated.

"No, love. This is Ben Solo. He is a very dear friend of mine and he is going to take us away from here."

Katalis squirmed to get down and Aisiris cheered. Both girls ran inside, gather the few belongings that Rey had managed to find for them, and stuffing them into bags. Both adults looked at each other and sighed. It was going to be a long trip to Coruscant.

After Rey had packed her own meager belongings they headed back towards the ship. She was excited to be leaving, but knew when she got there, that there was a huge possibility of Leia waiting for her on the landing platform.

_She is not. She is going to wait until you are ready to see her, but she does want to see you. _

_Why? She hasn't tried to contact me since I left. What could she possibly want that she hasn't already taken from me?_

_Rey, my mother is prone to saying things that she doesn't mean when she is upset. She hurt you, I know, but she didn't mean it. It isn't an excuse for what she did, just an explanation._

Rey nodded, but refused to speak anymore. As they walked into the ship the girls took off. "Be careful!" She called after them. "Ben and I will be in the cockpit."

"Wanna tell me how you ended up with them?" He asked as he slid into the copilot's seat and Rey took her place as the pilot.

"Unkar Plutt. He bought them off a band of slave traders that frequents the area. I couldn't leave them. They were sitting together in his little cage that he keeps next to his stall and I had to help them. I couldn't let them grow up like I had. So, I traded your ship for their freedom and some food." She started the engines, and they were off. She couldn't say that she was sad to leave it behind again.

"It's really is good to see you, Rey." she grinned at him and turned her head looking at the console to her left. "What is that?" he reached for her, pushing her hair away from her neck. He saw it. The brand. "Who did this?" His voice was low, dangerous.

"Ben, don't, alright. I will get the scar tissue looked at when we get to Coruscant and see what can be done to remove it. For now, just leave it alone." she answered.

"That didn't answer my question, Rey."

"Plutt. I was branded a thief after I got back because I stole the _Falcon_ from him originally. He was angry about it, so he branded me. Please, just leave it." She wouldn't look at him, wouldn't even turn her head other than to fix her hair and hide the mark again.

"Alright. I will leave it, for now."

"I thought you were bringing Chewie with you?" Rey changed the subject quickly.

"I was, but I had a meeting with my mother just before I left and took off in a hurry. I completely forgot to ask him to come with me, to be honest. Not to mention, I feel better having him there to look after my mother."

"I do too. I never stopped loving her, you know. Even now it feels like there is this gaping hole in my chest. The girls help, but nothing will ever replace her."

"You know that she still loves you too, right? She begged me to let her come with me to rescue you."

"You lie." Rey looked at him, scandalised. "Your mother, Princess Leia and General Organa herself, begged you?"

"I swear on the force she begged me. It took me ten minutes to talk her out of it. I didn't want her to scare you off." They were both chuckling at this point. "Not to mention, can you imagine how much longer this flight would have been with my mother nagging me about routes and speed and coordinates all the way to Jakku?" Ben groaned.

That had Rey pause. She thought about a long flight with Leia, but she couldn't see anything that would have her trying to talk the older woman out of it. Quite the opposite actually.

"Alright, gross, she is my mother, Rey."

"I know, and my former lover. Emphasis on 'former'. I haven't spoken to her since the night she gave me a black eye. Other than meeting with her when I first arrive, I'd like to keep it that way."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N - Chapter 7

Coming into land on the Coruscant pads, Rey felt like she was going to vomit. She had no idea how anyone would react to her being there, much less showing up with two children.

"Up, Uncle Ben! Up!" Ben laughed and stooped low so that Aisiris could climb up onto his back as Rey set the ship down. Katalis was curled in her lap, asleep against her shoulder. Once she had disengaged the engines, she scooped the small girl into her arms and carried her off the ship, following behind Ben and Aisiris. Waiting for her on the platform, she had seen when they had come in, were Finn, Po, and Rose. She had no clue what to expect from them and was incredibly worried.

Her worry almost completely disappeared when Katalis cuddled closer and nestled her head against her neck. She smiled and pressed a soft kiss to the girls forehead, feeling more and more like the mother they needed. Ben and Aisiris had grown close in their journey to Coruscant. The four of them often playing together and the two adults spending time telling their stories.

Finn was the first to move. While all of them had shocked faces seeing her and Ben with children, he seemed to recover the fastest. He hugged her gently whispering, so as not to wake the child in her arms, "It's good to have you back." that seemed to break the other two from their shock and they both moved to hug her as well.

She followed Ben. They moved off the platform to a set of rooms that she and the girls would use, something he had set up with Chewie while they were still in flight. They were large quarters, with three rooms and a small kitchen and living area. Something else Rey would have to get used to, cooking. It was colder than she was used to and she shivered, causing the child she carried to stir. Both of the girls took the room by storm, deciding between them who would get which room and leaving the largest for Rey, herself.

The chime sounded and Chewie stepped in. Rey quickly gave the Wookie a large hug, thanking him for assisting in her rescue.

"I suppose I should go see your mother and get that meeting over with." Rey told her best friend.

"I agree, but you have however long you need. Chewie can take you to her office if you want me to watch the girls for you."

"Would you? I want to get the meeting with her done so that I can sleep. It's been a long time since I had the privilege of sleeping in a bed and it looks so comfortable." Ben laughed at her.

"Get out of here. I'll watch them."

Rey and Chewie left, passing various members of the former Resistance as they passed who all hugged her and whispered their hellos. It didn't take long before she was standing in front of a door, dreading knocking and going in.

The Wookie beside her rumbled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know. I'm just scared, buddy. I haven't seen her in a long time."

He rumbled again.

"You would think so, being a Jedi and all, but fear is an integral part of survival sometimes." with a heavy sigh, she reached up, and knocked firmly.

"Enter," a familiar voice barked. The voice that haunted her dreams and had become her inner voice was just beyond that door.

Chewie, pressed the button next to the door and it slid open. When she didn't move, he placed a large paw in the middle of her back and shoved, closing the door behind her.

"Whatever the problem is, I am sure that it can wait until later this evening. I have several meetings today, none of which can be pushed back any further." Leia didn't even look up from the tablet she was reading on, or the papers in her other hand.

Rey considered several options for a moment before she breathed in slowly, silently and centered herself. _**I'm sure that your meetings are very important, Senator, but I also believe I was supposed to be one of them. **_She spoke directly into Leia's mind, reaching out and gently touching the outer edge of the older woman's consciousness.

The senator froze. It had been years since she had felt that touch, that gentle caress that she had forgotten she craved. Dark eyes met her own and electricity sparked between them, as it always had. The older woman was at a loss for words. She rose slowly from her desk and made her way to the other side, leaning against it for support as she examined the differences in her former lover.

There were several new scars that the older woman didn't remember being on her arms, and one that ran from her collar bone to disappear between her breasts, under her tunic. The scars themselves were much more visible than she recalled as well. Their stark white color a high contrast to the sun darkened skin. Rey's hair was much longer than the shoulder length bob that she had sported before, now reaching all the way to the curve of her lower back, even when pulled into the high ponytail braid she had in now. Leia could only imagine how long it was when it was let down.

She found that she was barely able to breathe staring at the beautiful sight before her. She had longed for this vision for so long, wished that she could see the younger woman in more than just her dreams. She wanted to touch her, to feel the solid arms of the scavenger turned Jedi holding her again. She wanted to hear that beloved voice telling her that she loved her, that everything was alright now, they were together again, and she would never let her go, but all of her insecurities and self doubts, her fear and guilt over what she had done, prevented her from speaking more than a few words.

"Are you really here?" Her voice left her as a croak. "I know Ben was going to get you, but I can hardly believe this."

"Yes, I am here." Rey answered. She watched the older woman crumble and was there to catch her before she hit the floor, though for the briefest moment she considered simply letting her fall and sit where she landed. "I'm here, Leia. I'm right here." she whispered, over and over as the older woman cried against her chest, remembering all over again the sting in her cheek and the agony in her chest as if it had happened yesterday. She loved Leia, of that she had no doubt, but she seriously questioned whether she was ready to trust her again, after everything she had been through. Her mind recalled the resentment she had felt towards her former lover when she first arrived on Jakku, but it was dismissed as quickly as it had come on. It was not, at all, Leia's fault what she had been subjected to when she first landed. She could never blame her for that.

An ache filled her heart as she felt the soft curves against her again and smelled that wonderful scent. She buried her nose in the fragrance of the woman's perfume and the unique musk that was Leia. There was no replicating that smell. One she had dreamed of over the last five years, but knew that dreams were nowhere near the overwhelming sensations of reality.

They sat like that, with Leia sobbing and repeating over and over how sorry she was, until the former general had cried herself out and was carefully drying her eyes on her sleeve. Rey pulled away from her and carefully helped her stand and lean back against the front of her desk. She knew that Leia did not like to seem vulnerable to anyone, and doubted that after five years the older woman would want to seem that way in front of her.

"It's good to see you, Leia." she whispered, stepping away by several feet. "I have missed you."

"I have missed you as well, Rey, but saying that it is good to see me is not exactly what I was hoping to hear." She held up her hand to stop the Jedi from speaking, wishing that she hadn't moved so far away, and that her arms were still holding her. "I know that it is a foolish wish of a foolish old woman, but I was hoping that we could talk and in time, perhaps you would forgive what I had done."

"If I only had myself to worry about, Leia, I would tell you that I forgave you the minute I walked away, but I can't. I have other lives to worry about besides just my own."

"Are you pregnant?" the older woman whispered, closing her eyes against what she feared praying to the Force that the answer was no.

"No, but I am a mother, and I will put the welfare of my daughters before my own happiness or relationships." Rey answered, and stepped away from her again. "I won't upset them, or their lives, anymore than they already have been."

"How old are they?" curiosity drew Leia in and she sat on the edge of her desk, listening intently.

"Seven and five. They need me right now, more than anyone else does."

"I don't understand." Leia whispered. "How did you come to have two children of different ages, one clearly born before the war ended?"

"The same way I ended up on Jakku. Slave trade, Unkar Plutt bought them and I traded for them. BB-9E has been a huge help in researching how to deal with children that aren't mine that I am going to be raising." Rey leaned against a wall and ran a hand through her hair. "I tried to ignore them. They were in that cage for four days before I traded Ben's ship for their freedom. I kept telling myself to stay out of it, and it wasn't my business, but I couldn't just leave them there."

"Rey. I understand. How long have you had these girls?"

"About a month, but I love them both."

"Will you tell me about them?"

"Aisiris is the elder of the two, and she is just like me. She is a hellion and a spit fire and she has decided to dress just like me every day. Even her hair matches mine. She has gotten very attached Ben in the time it has taken for us to get here. Katalis, though, is quiet. She is a very calm little girl and doesn't speak much. She is shy, and has grown rather attached to me." Rey chuckled. "They both spend most of their nights sleeping in my lap." It was so easy to forget their history. They had always been compatible when it came to conversations. Rey remembered the nights on the _Falcon_, before they had decided to pursue a relationship, when they would stay up for hours in Leia's room talking about everything and nothing.

"They sound beautiful. I would like to meet them, someday." Leia whispered.

"Oh, you have no idea how much they would love that!"

"Why? Do they know about me?"

"They know the stories of Princess Leia, the brave Resistance general who led her people to freedom, and the beautiful woman who the lady Jedi fell in love with." Rey whispered back. "I never stopped loving you, Leia. I promised you that, and I kept that promise. My daughters know that much. I should get back and check on them. I left them with Ben."

"I still love you, Rey. If anything changes, or you change your mind about us, I will be here. I promise you that. I won't push you, pressure you about coming back to me, and if this is the only conversation that you and I ever have again then I will be content with that knowledge, but if you think there is a chance, if you want to try again, you know how to find me."

"You have known how to find me for the last five years, Leia. What stopped you? Why didn't you send me a transmission? Why didn't you reach out, if you still wanted this? I have spent the last five years believing that you hate me. Why not put me out of my misery and ask me to come home yourself?" Rey cast her eyes to the floor. While she was nowhere near the naive young girl that she had been when they had first embarked on their relationship, she still had her insecurities and fears that refused to let her believe that the great Leia Organa wanted anything to do with her anymore.

"I didn't know that you wanted me to. Ben told me that you were angry, that I should give you time to cool off before I said anything. I didn't know how long to wait, how long to give you before you would be open to hearing from me. After a while it just got easier to not contact you. It got easier to let the fear of your reaction keep me from finding you, from asking you to come back to me."

"I was angry, for a while. But I never held anything against you. I wasn't angry with you. I was angry with the whole kriffing situation. Ben and I being on different sides of the war, Ben being your son, lying to you about my connection to him, the entire war in general. I didn't even speak to Ben for over a month. I didn't close myself off from him, but I didn't respond to him. He could tell that I was angry, but I never told him why." Rey whispered, refusing to look up, or anywhere in the room besides at her own shoes.

Leia stepped forward, placing her finger beneath the Jedi's chin. "I need you to tell me right now, Rey, is there a chance for us still? I have to know whether there is any reason for me to have any hope of a future with you, or if it is just an old woman's fantasy."

Rey considered her response for a moment before she answered, "I love you, Leia, but you hurt me, worse than anyone else has ever hurt me before. I don't trust you, anymore. I can't. Is there any hope for us? I don't know, maybe, but we have a long way to go before we get there I think."

"I can live with that. I will wait for you to be ready, Rey, as I have these last five years."

The older woman turned towards her desk and heard the door slide open. "Rey!" Leia spun back around and the young woman froze looking back at the elder. "I meant it. I'm sorry and I love you."

Rey smiled sadly. "I did too. I had a lot of time on Jakku to think about things. I forgive you, Leia. and I love you too, but we have to work on trust."

She was gone. The door slid shut behind her and left Leia standing there, wishing that she could have kissed her, touched her, held her for longer.

Rey made it back to her rooms on her own and stepped in. She almost doubled over laughing when she saw Ben, pinned to the ground by the two children.

"Rey! Rey, save me!" Ben reached out to her and she joined the fray.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N - Chapter 8

"Girls, I need to talk to you." It was only a couple of weeks after her first meeting with Leia that she decided to broach the subject of meeting the Senator with her children. She had been thinking a lot about what the older woman had said in that meeting and had come to the conclusion that, if she wanted to learn to trust Leia again, then she had to stop avoiding her, which meant inviting her to spend time with her and the girls, if she wanted.

Both children came running from their respective rooms, and sat down in front of her on the floor. Both looked up at her expectantly, but remained silent. Aisiris still insisted on wearing the same outfits as her new mother, and while Katalis was high on energy and could easily keep up with her sister, she was still a very quiet young girl.

"I wanted to talk to you about meeting someone. This person is very special to me, and I was wondering if you girls would mind if she spent some time with us." Rey began.

"Who is it?" Aisiris asked, her natural curiosity at all things that concerned Rey perking her up immediately.

"Do you remember me telling you about Princess Leia?"

"The beautiful resistance General who the lady Jedi fell in love with," Aisiris quoted and stood up, pulling her sister with her to dance around the room, humming a slow tune.

"Yes, exactly." Rey chuckled. "How would you girls like to meet her?"

They both froze and looked at her with wide eyes. "You mean it?" Katalis whispered softly. "We could meet the princess?"

"Yes. You could. I've talked to her about you. She would like to meet you both."

The girls seemed to explode with excitement as the chime on her door sounded and Ben walked in. He cocked an eyebrow at her, watching them dance around the living room, completely ignoring his existence.

"What's got them so wound up?" He sat on the arm of the chair where Rey was sitting.

"I told them I was going to take them to meet your mother." She whispered back.

"Oh, well you have fun with that. I have no interest in talking to her today." He growled out.

"What happened?"

"She wants me to go to Naboo to head up a pet project of hers. Something about building and opening a library." He rolled his eyes.

"You know that she will be more interested in the girls than she will in you anyway." She bribed.

"Nope, take Chewie. I'm not going."

Recently, Ben had spent a lot of time in her rooms with her and spent several nights sleeping on her couch. She didn't mind the company. After so long on Jakku by herself, she was glad that someone was around, especially to help with the girls. The two of them had spent so much time together the last few weeks that she had been on Coruscant that Po and Finn had both accused her of sleeping with him. The thought alone made her shudder.

"Fine, I think I can handle taking them by myself anyway. I was just letting you know our plans for today. You are welcome to hang out here if you want, but my meeting with your mother is in ten minutes. So I need to take the girls and go." She stood, and sent the girls to get their shoes and get ready to meet their idol.

"I will be here when you get back." Ben said, sliding off the arm of the chair so that his legs were kicked over the side.

Rey rolled her eyes and, at the request of her youngest, lifted her into her arms, bracing her on her hip. She took Aisiris's hand and led them both out the door.

The next thing she knew, she was ringing the bell on Leia's office door and being granted permission to enter. They had taken two steps into the room and the door had just closed behind them, when Aisiris slipped behind her mother and clutched at her tunic.

"Senator." Rey said, getting the older woman's attention.

"Rey!" Leia's head came up and she was delighted to see the children were with her. "I didn't realise my next meeting today was with you. This is a wonderful surprise." She stood and walked around her desk immensely glad to see the young Jedi and hoping against all odds that this meant the young woman was willing to give them another chance "Who are these lovely young ladies?"

"The one hiding behind me Aisiris, and this," she hefted her youngest a little higher as the small girl buried her face in the scavenger's neck, "Is Katalis. They were very excited to meet you just a few minutes ago. I'm not sure what happened." She was chuckling softly.

"Mom," Aisiris whispered. "Is that the princess?"

Rey knelt down, placing Katalis on the floor and getting eye level with her older daughter. "Yes, it is. Do you want to say hello?" She was surprised when Katalis was the one who slipped away from her and wandered over to stare up at Leia, her little head cocked to one side. Aisiris followed her, approaching slowly.

Rey watched as they both seemed to size up the older woman, deciding whether or not she was real and whether she was worth their time. Leia seemed to be a little uncomfortable under the scrutiny, but watched them both. Katalis, seeming to make up her mind, walked over and wrapped both arms around the senator, laying her head against her skirt. She was followed almost immediately by her sister and Rey breathed a sigh of relief. If she and the senator were going to embark and another attempt at a relationship, then she needed to have her children's approval.

_**Apparently you passed whatever test that was.**_ She sent silently to her former lover.

_**Clearly. **_Rey smiled as Leia bent down and lifted Aisiris into her arms and set her up on the desk, seated atop a pile of paperwork that the senator found she no longer cared about.

Katalis tugged at her skirt and lifted her arms as well, wanting to be picked up, but when she started to set the girl down, the young one wouldn't let go.

"Mom says she wants you to spend more time with us." Aisiris said suddenly. "Do you want to spend time with us?"

Rey put her face in both hands and groaned. She would have to speak to her oldest about what was appropriate to mention to adults and what wasn't. She had wanted to broach the subject with Leia carefully, had wanted to find out if the older woman was still interested in trying again, but apparently her daughter had other plans about that.

Leia was shocked. Rey hadn't spoken to her about wanting to spend more time together. They had only seen each other at their first meeting other than in passing in the halls. She hadn't thought that the younger woman had really wanted to introduce her children to her, or that they might get to talk more about what had happened in the last five years. She turned to stare at the Jedi, hope blossoming in her chest. "Rey? What is she talking about?"

"I asked them if they would mind spending time with you. I wanted to know if they would have a problem with you possibly becoming a fixture in their lives, whether as a friend or something else" The younger woman looked away, a feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach. Her thoughts, well guarded and hidden behind thick mental walls, swirled around what she would do if the older woman said no. She had yet to let the older woman into her mind as she had in the past and this wasn't the time to allow that. She didn't trust the Leia enough to allow that sort of intimacy again, yet.

"Rey, it has barely been two weeks since you got here. Do you think it's a good idea at this point?" _**They have only just met me, **_was projected into her head.

_**And six weeks ago they had only just met me. They are strong kids. **_ Rey projected her thoughts right back.

_**I don't want them to be upset if I were to start spending time with you. They need stability and to know that you are there for them. I am not sure it is a good idea right now.**_

_**I never plan on not being there for them, Leia, but that doesn't mean that we can't be friends, at least. Maybe this wasn't the best idea for today. Think about it. Everything is in your hands, now. It's your choice. I just wanted to let you know that the offer is there. **_

"Girl's, we should go. I'm sure the Senator has a lot to do and we don't want to interrupt her work anymore." Rey said. Her daughters looked up, one from where her head rested on Leia's shoulder, and the other from the stone orb that she had in her hands.

"Do we have to go already?" Aisiris asked as Katalis snuggled closer to the older woman.

"Actually," Leia said, deciding in an instant to take this plunge and damned be the consequences, "I don't have any other important meetings that I have to go to. How about I take all of you out to dinner and we talk about me spending more time with you." She wasn't going to mess this up again, not now that she had the chance to make things right. She needed the Jedi back in her life.

Rey laughed, a happy, melodic sound as the girls cheered, and Leia nearly wept. She wanted to hear that for the rest of her life and be the reason that the young woman did it. "I think that sounds like a good idea. Though, you should be warned, we might have to make sure they don't eat the plates too."

The elder woman chuckled at the loud exclamations of denial coming from the two children. She felt a tug on her sleeve and glance down at Aisiris who motioned for her to lean closer and whispered in her ear. Leia felt tears rising in her eyes at what the child told her. Katalis, who heard what her sister was saying, nodded along, agreeing with what was being said.

Rey cocked an eyebrow as Leia straightened back up. The older woman shook her head. _**Later. **_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dinner turned out to be an easy affair. Conversation flowed between the women at an easy pace. Neither of them touching on subjects that would bring back painful memories and remaining neutral on topics like the girls, Ben, how things had been for them since they had arrived and how the galaxy had progressed since the war had ended. Being out on Jakku, Rey hadn't really kept up with politics or really anything other than staying alive and not getting too badly hurt.

Rey could see it in Leia's eyes that she wanted to ask, though. Wanted to know where all of the new scars came from. The older woman's eyes kept drifting to the one on her collarbone, and she could feel the question burning her skin. _**How far does it go?**_ Though she chose not to answer, she knew Leia wouldn't let it go, but she would deal with it later.

Returning to Rey's room, the girls walked, tiredly to their rooms to get ready for bed, after telling both adults goodnight and extracting promises that they would get to see their beloved princess again. Ben had left earlier, planning to go out for drinks with Po and Finn, which left Rey and Leia alone in her living room.

"What did Aisiris tell you, that upset you so much?" Rey whispered as she and the older woman sat on the couch, close to each other, but not quite touching.

"She told me that you still have nightmares about the war and asked if there was anything I could do to help. I had been hoping that being as far away from all of this as you were, that you had been given the time to recover, perhaps found someone to help you heal." Leia's hand clenched in the fabric of her dress where it covered her thigh.

"Jakku doesn't have much by way of therapists or counselors, Leia."

"That's not what I-"

"I know what you meant." Rey reached out and pried the older woman fingers loose of the abused material, twining their fingers together, relishing in the contact with her soft skin. "But, can you honestly tell me that you wished I had found someone else?"

"I…" the Senator's eyes slipped closed as tears threatened to fall. "If it meant you were happy. If it meant that you weren't suffering or in pain, or still reliving your own personal hell, I would have wished for anything. Even if it meant losing you, or losing the hope of having you with me again, I would have wished for it."

Neither said anything for several minutes, both scared of what the other would think if their thoughts were voiced. After so long spent apart, they weren't as sure of themselves as they had once been and it showed in their interactions. Once, Rey wouldn't have been afraid of voicing her thoughts or confiding her fears to her former lover, but things were different now.

She swallowed hard, forcing down the terror filled lump in her throat before whispering, "I...My nightmares aren't about the war, specifically. At least, they haven't been for the last few years." She stared at her hands. "Jakku is a lot of things. Nice is not one of them." She stood and ran her fingers through her loose hair, before wrapping her arms around herself and staring out the window at the buildings surrounding them. "It's one of the reasons why I couldn't stay when I took in the girls. I couldn't let them grow up like I did."

She heard Leia shift and walk up behind her. "What happened, Rey?"

The jedi shook her head and turned to look at the senator. "A story for another time." She answered cryptically. "You should be getting home."

"You're right, of course, but I find that I very much _don't_ want to leave. Not with the way things are between us. I would like to talk more, if you don't mind, to at least _try _to mend some of the brokenness between us."

The older woman wasn't expecting it when Rey's hands cradled her face. She wasn't expecting to feel soft lips touch her forehead, wasn't expecting those same lips to trace her cheeks, her nose, or touch gently at the corner of her mouth. Not quite a kiss, but a promise of one. Strong arms pulled her close and held on as she wrapped both of her own arms around a slim waist.

"I will always be here, Leia. Nothing is ever going to change that."

"You left once."

"And a single message from you would have brought me back. I would have been here, if you asked me to. If you needed me, I would have come to you, just as I always will. No matter where I am or how far away I go."

Both women cried as they held each other, neither wanting to let go, or end the moment. They both knew that they needed this connection, this time to simply hold and be held by one another. They were both lost in the feeling of finally being pressed close together. They needed this time, as connected,as they obviously still were, to test the waters of their new relationship.

As it was, the moment was broken by a shout from Katalis. Rey released the older woman as both of them ran to her bedroom.

The sight that greeted them was pitiful. The young girl was twisted up in her blankets and sobbing in her sleep, begging for Rey to help her. The mother wasted no time in pulling her daughter from her blankets, depositing her in her lap, and rocking her back and forth. The movement from her bed had woken the sleeping child and she sat, shaking in her mother's arms.

Leia started when she felt two small arms wrap around her. She looked down at Aisiris, who had tears in her eyes and was nobly fighting against them.

It took another hour to get the girls calmed down enough to go back to sleep and by the end of it, both adults were thoroughly exhausted. "If you want to stay you can. I don't know where you live, or how far it is. If it's too far, you are welcome to stay. It is getting really late."

"Rey,"

"Don't, please. Not tonight. Someday I will tell you what it is really like to live on Jakku, to

be sold as a slave, to be treated worse than dirt. But please, not tonight. I can't, please."

"Alright," Leia whispered as she stepped closer placing her fingers over Rey's trembling lips. "You don't have to talk about it, Rey. We can take our time with everything if that's what you need. I screwed this up, five years ago. I know that. I also know that I am incredibly lucky to even get the chance to have you in my life at all. I will take whatever it is you are willing to give, go however slow you need to." She placed her hand on the smooth cheek of her young friend.

"I don't need to go slow in all things." Rey circled Leia's waist with her arms and drew the Senator's body close to hers. "But there are somethings that I don't want you to know about, somethings that I wish I could hide from you forever."

"Why?"

"Because I know you, Leia. I know how badly you will react when you find out." Rey leaned her forehead against the older woman's, wishing she trusted herself and the older woman enough to press their lips together. "I will tell you everything, when I am ready. Until then, we both need to get some sleep."

"I would stay, Rey, but you hardly have the room."

"Stay with me. I will sleep on the couch, you can have the bed. I don't want you out alone at night. It's dangerous."

"I am not kicking you out of your bed."

"Then stay with me. We are both adults, we can share the bed." Rey tugged on a reluctant hand. "Just to sleep, Leia. I promise. I am not ready either."

"I don't have anything to wear, Rey."

That made the younger woman freeze. Images of their first and only time together, memories of Leia naked and writhing beneath her and the sounds she had made, paraded through her mind, heating her from the inside. Her eyes locked with the older woman's and lust clouded her thoughts. All thought of trust and the need for it fled in the instant their eyes met. It took no time at all for her to fasten her lips to the thin ones of her former/future lover and back her against a wall.

Leia groaned at the first touch of Rey's lips on hers. It had been far too long since she had kissed the beautiful young Jedi and it took no time at all for her fingers to fist themselves into soft hair pull herself closer. She needed this contact, needed the young woman almost more than she needed air. In a surprising show of her own strength, she flipped their positions and had the younger woman against that same wall, but she was shocked beyond measure when Rey broke the kiss and groaned heavily tilting her head back and squeezing her eyes shut. She was in pain, and Leia stepped back, not knowing what was hurt.

"What happened?" The older woman whispered.

"I have several old injuries that never really healed right. I have been meaning to get them looked at, but it keeps slipping my mind. Jakku doesn't really have great medical practice. It's mostly, alcohol, illegal drugs, and a fake doctor with a dirty knife if you are brave enough to go that far." Rey was panting as the searing pain receded into a dull throb.

"Where?" Leia demanded.

"My ribs mostly, but I need to get my shoulders, my back, and my left leg looked at too." Rey pushed herself away from the wall and took the older woman's face in her hands. "I am fine. I just need to see a doctor soon. Though, I don't know what they will be able to do for me."

"If the bones were broken, and never set properly before they healed, they may have to break them again." She closed her eyes at the touch of her Jedi's lips against her own.

"Don't worry about me. Let's get some rest. I promise I will see a doctor soon."

"I am going to hold you to that, Rey. I don't like seeing you in pain."

Rey bit back a remark about the older woman being the cause of the pain in her heart that was her ever constant companion, and just nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The visit to the doctor that Rey had promised her would happen soon, still hadn't happened. They had been slowly rebuilding their friendship and their relationship over the course of the last three months. Leia spent countless nights in Rey's quarters, and had grown quite close to both of the young Jedi's daughters as well. She was worried though. She knew that the young woman had problems with her back, though she didn't know why. She also knew that she ignored the pain she felt in her injuries in favor of carrying Katalis whenever the child asked to be held.

She had told her secretary to clear her schedule after lunch for the day and sent Ben a message to meet her at Rey's rooms. He was going to watch the girls while Leia took Rey to see a doctor, though she feared how the young woman would react knowing that her best friend and her lover? Girlfriend? Were ganging up on her to make her go to the doctor.

They arrived at her door, only to find her sitting in a chair, her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking softly. Leia headed for her young love and Ben went in search of the girls. Neither needed to communicate to know where they were needed most at that moment.

"Rey, sweetheart, tell me what's wrong." The older woman whispered, kneeling in front of the young woman and taking her hands between her own.

"Nothing really. Memories, nightmares. I had a panic attack and scared the girls. Things started flying all over and I ended up passed out in the kitchen. I tried to explain to them but I don't think they understood." The Jedi's voice was flat, tired, and emotionless, which only served to worry the Senator more.

"I see. Were the girls hurt? When everything started flying around, did the girls get hurt?" She spoke gently, afraid of spooking her and scaring her into shutting down.

"No. no they were fine when I spoke to them. A little shaken up but they weren't hurt." Rey leaned forward and rested her head on Leia's shoulder as the older woman wrapped her arms around her. "I hate this. I hurt so much all the time. I can't stop the nightmares."

"Then let's take care of the pain. Let me take you to see a doctor, Rey. You need to get these wounds looked at so that you can heal properly and not be in so much pain all the time." Leia gently tried to coax the young woman to look at her, with no avail.

"You're right, I know." The young woman sighed.

Leia stood and pulled Rey with her, forcing her to her feet. "Let's go then, so we can get this over with and find out what they say."

The scans showed exactly what Rey figured they would. Most of her ribs, several vertebrae, and her left leg, had all been broken and none of them had healed properly. Both shoulders had been dislocated and the tendons were torn, which, thankfully, wouldn't require surgery like the Jedi had feared. These doctors had instruments that would allow her to heal properly, without cutting her open, but they would have to rebreak her bones, though that pain would be temporary. The bones would be healed within minutes of the breaking.

Leia gasped when she saw the scans. Tears filled her eyes and her hand flew to her mouth. What had been done to the young woman in the five years that they had been apart to cause all of this? Shame filled her. She was the one that had ordered her to leave. This was all her fault. Rey never would have had to live like this if she hadn't told her to leave and not come back. How could she ever forgive herself, much less ask Rey to forgive her? She was brought out of her musings by Rey taking her hand.

_**Don't think like that. **_

_**How can I not? **_Tears spilled down the older woman's cheeks and she choked on a sob. The doctor stepped out of the exam room and rey sat up off of the bed she had been laying on.

_**None of this is your fault, Leia. **_

_**Yes it is. I told you to leave. I hit you. Whatever was done to you is all my fault. If I hadn't-**_

_**You didn't take a metal pipe to my back. You didn't string me up by my wrists and beat me black and blue. You didn't do any of this. Unkar Plutt and his flunkies are to blame. **_

_**But-**_

_**No. Leia, I have been putting this off for three months because I didn't want you to blame yourself, as I knew you would. **_

_**They have to break-**_

_**They have to rebreak them yes. If you don't want to be here for that it's fine. I'm sure Ben-**_

_**NO! No I will be here for you. It will be incredibly painful, you know that right?**_

Rey stood, and pulled Leia into her arms. "It won't be the worst pain I have ever felt. Don't worry. I promise you I will be fine."

"I don't want to think about how much pain you have endured because of me. Do I even want to ask what the worst pain you have felt was?" Leia rested her head against the taller woman's chest and breathed slowly.

"Walking away from you and knowing that, with the war going on, it may have been the last time I saw you. Had something actually happened to you, Leia, I would have lost my mind. Ben was going to come with me, when I left. He only stayed because I asked him to keep you safe."

Leia nodded. She knew that pain. It felt like her heart was being ripped from her chest every day that she had been away from Rey. "I never want you to have to endure this kind of pain again."

"I am a Jedi. I may not get a choice."

The older woman tipped her head back to argue, but her mouth was very suddenly occupied by a tongue that wasn't her own. She groaned and clung to the very tall young woman who held her against her body and kept her from falling.

"That's not fair." she whispered as the young Jedi pulled away.

All thoughts of continuing their conversation vanished when the doctor walked back in, asking if they were ready to begin.

Rey swallowed hard against the sudden lump of fear in her throat, and nodded.

She refused to scream. Rey's head swam at the unending agony. Feeling her bones crack as the doctor forced them to. She remembered the first time that these injuries had happened. Remembered being beaten and branded after returning to Jakku. The memories threatened to overwhelm her as the pain took her back to the dusty warehouse where Plutt and his men had strung her up and left her, only coming back days later with knives and fists. She hadn't screamed then, she refused to scream now. She wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction, even from light-years away, of screaming.

Leia forced herself to stand next to the bed and watch as her young love suffered in silence. She didn't know how Rey managed not to scream every time she heard a bone crack, but the older woman was impressed. She knew the kind of pain that the Jedi was going through and it made her sick to watch.

When they were finally through, and the bones set and healed properly, Rey didn't move from the table for long minutes. The doctor told her to take her time and stepped over to his equipment to start packing it up.

The senator stepped towards the bed. "Rey," she whispered, "are you alright?"

"I am relishing not being in pain for the first time in five years." Came the whispered response.

"One more thing before you go, Rey." The doctor turned to look at her. "The scar, on your neck, would you like me to look at it? It showed up in my scans and I am sure that we could minimize it, if not heal the wound completely."

"Maybe another time. I don't think I could handle much more pain today." Rey whispered sitting up and rubbing a hand over the mark absentmindedly.

"Of course. Have a good evening then." He was gone.

"Scar?" Leia asked.

"I have a lot of those. A lot more than the last time you saw me, Leia." Rey whispered.

"You can't think that I would judge you because of them." The older woman stepped closer and pushed between Rey' knees, taking the rare chance to be taller than her love and running her fingers through her long hair. "If you think that, then I have done a very poor job of convincing you of what you mean to me." She leaned down and pressed her lips to the clammy forehead in front of her.

Rey leaned forward and placed her head against Leia's sternum. She reached up with one hand and drew her hair to the side. _**I hope you mean that, because this is a damning mark in the outer rim.**_

Leia ran gentle fingers over the brand and tipped the young woman's head back up to her. _**This mark, nor any others you show me, will ever change how I feel about you. I love you, Rey. I have loved you from the beginning, and I will love you for however long I am to remain among the living.**_

It was the first time either of them had spoken the words since they had started exploring their relationship again and Rey couldn't help but grin up at the older woman. _**I love you too, Leia. I told you before, I never stopped loving you. You have always been the one thing that kept me going, that gave me the strength to stay alive.**_

_**Tell me what happened, please?**_

Rey sighed. She didn't even know how to begin to tell the woman what had happened to her. The older woman had no idea the extent of the scarring she now had, all over her body, and she knew that once she found out that Plutt and his cronies had tortured her when she got back, that Leia would likely continue to blame herself for telling the young woman to leave. Ben had questioned her weeks before about her choice to go back to Jakku, wanting to know why she had chosen there of all places, instead of going somewhere that she wouldn't have been recognized. She had to have known that Plutt would demand compensation for the ship, so why had she gone back? It wasn't a question that she knew how to answer.

Leia watched the trepidation on her young love's face and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She knew that the young woman wanted to hide behind whatever walls she had up, never once allowing the minds to brush together as they had before. Even so long after they had decided to pursue this again. She felt bad for pushing the subject of Jakku with the Jedi, but she needed to know. She had to know what she had put Rey through when she had told her to leave. She knew that the young woman didn't blame her for whatever it was, but she also knew that she would blame herself.

"I will tell you, but not here. Can we go back to my rooms, or to your place? I don't want to talk about it in a doctor's office." Rey whispered quietly.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N - LAST CHAPTER GUYS! there is potential for another one, but probably not anytime soon. I am currently working on another Star Wars fic and a couple of Harry Potter fics, so anything that could follow this, probably won't happen until I finish those. Thanks for sticking with me for so long! I love you all! Please review this and let me know what you think, even if you hate it. I love reading flames. They make me laugh.

They made it back to Leia's apartments in nearly record time. Rey had been surprised to find that the older woman lived only a couple of floors away from her and her daughters, though they were considerably bigger. The thought made her grin. It meant that Leia had been spending nights with her because she wanted to, not because her rooms were to far away.

The two of them were seated together on Leia's couch, Rey's legs were covered with a blanket, and a cup of tea each. Neither knew how to start this conversation, or even where to start it.

Leia was the first one to speak. "Why don't you start with what happened after you landed?"

"That's easy. Nothing really happened after I landed. I left the ship that Ben gave me far away from the trading post, where Plutt wouldn't find it, and went back to my AT-AT. I had to run out a couple of squatters, and rearrange everything after they messed it all up, but that was pretty much it. Nothing really happened until I went to Niima with my first load of salvage, hoping to get a couple of quarter portions out of it." Rey's eyes were completely focused on the liquid in her cup. She didn't look up, didn't look at Leia. She simply spoke to her tea.

"I tried to turn the salvage in and Unkar Plutt's cronies grabbed me from behind. They knocked me unconscious before I even knew what was happening. When I came around, everything hurt. I was strung up by my wrists in some dusty warehouse and they had already taken turns beating me. They waited until I was awake to brand me. The scar on my neck, it marks me a thief, someone who can't be trusted. I don't really remember everything that they hit me with. Pipes, their fists, I think one of them hit me with a power probe a few times. By the time they were done with me, I didn't even know how long I had been there. I crawled my way back to Niima. A Korunnai man, named Kovii, took pity on me and nursed me back to health as much as he could. All he had was street pills and dirty cloths, but I got better thanks to him. In return I helped him fix all of the broken salvage he had. He told me that Plutt and his men had been disappearing for six days into the warehouse."

"Six days?" Leia whispered. "They tortured you for six days?"

"Apparently. Plutt didn't take kindly to me stealing the _Falcon_ from beneath his nose. That ship was his prized possession. So when I took it, he never forgot it. And he made sure that I wouldn't forget the lesson either. The didn't just beat me, Leia. They cut me, they burned me. I have more scars than most of the Resistance fighters put together now."

Leia set her tea on the table in front of them, and removed the cup from Rey's hands as well. She swung her leg over The smaller ones next to her and straddled her Jedi's lap. She ran her fingers through long dark hair, and scratched lightly at her scalp with her fingernails. She stared into red rimmed eyes. She hadn't really noticed that the young woman was crying. Her voice had been steady, and even through the entire telling of her story.

"Listen to me, Rey. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, will change how I feel about you. You are my entire world, you and your daughters and my son. After everything that you and I have been through together, the fights, the arguments, my ruining everything we had, I doubt that there is anything that would make a difference in my feelings. We all have scars. Ben bears one on his face that you gave him, my love. I have several that I acquired after you left." Leia kissed her. Gently, and slowly, drawing her lover into her and holding her tight. She felt hands, calloused from years of scavenging, run over the bare skin of her back, beneath her shirt. She ran her lips across the strong jaw, and down the tanned neck that she loved so much. Her fingers caressed the bare skin of Rey's shoulders, beneath the tunic she wore, ghosting over a thin, puckered line that she knew to be one of the many scars that the young woman had.

"I love you, Rey." Leia whispered against her skin.

"I love you too, Leia." Rey leaned forward and braced her forehead against Leia's chest. She breathed in the calming scent of the woman that she was in love with and relaxed into her, running her fingers over the soft skin of her back.

Leia wrapped both of her arms around the younger woman and held her, pressing her lips into soft brown hair. "We will figure this out, figure us out, Rey. But the only way we can do that is together. So I need you to trust me."

"Leia," the Jedi drew out the sound of her name, heart clenching at the words she heard whispered in her ear. Did the older woman really not know?

"No, Rey. I want to help you get better, help you move past all of this, but I can't if you don't trust me. There was a time when you would have trusted me enough to place your life in my hands, and I am asking you to trust me now. You have to-"

Rey silenced her with a kiss, not wasting a moment in dragging her head down to her and stopping the flow of words. Slim fingers buried themselves in impeccably done hair, holding the older woman captive and not letting her go. She felt strong hands tangle in her own tresses as she swiped her tongue against her partner's lips, desperate to taste her. When entry was granted, all thought fled her mind and she spun them both, laying Leia on the couch and rising above her, pinning her in place with her body.

She broke the kiss reluctantly, resting her forehead on Leia's shoulder. "How can you not know? I do trust you, more than anyone, Leia. You have always held my life, my heart, my very being in your hands. I have always been yours to do with as please. I can deny you nothing."

Leia tugged on her hair, forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Then let me help you, Sweetheart. Let me in. You don't have to carry your past alone anymore."

Rey fought with herself. She struggled with her need to protect the older woman from everything that she could and the wish that she could shield her heart from the pain that she knew would come if she let her in. She wished that she could just drop her walls and let the senator delve into her mind and her memories with no problems, but she couldn't. It just wasn't that easy for her.

"Please, Rey. I want to help you. Let me help."

"You don't know how hard this is for me. I am trying so hard to protect you from everything, all of the darkness inside of me, the pain, and anger. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to feel bad or guilty for what happened to me."

"You can't stop that, Rey." Leia's fingers threaded slowly and gently through the long strands of soft hair. "I sent you away. I will always feel some level of guilt for what happened."

"You sent me away yes. But you didn't tell me to go back to Jakku. I went there of my own accord. I knew what would happen if I showed my face in the Outer Rim again. I took that chance. I chose to return and accept the consequences. That part had nothing to do with you." Rey whispered against her ear and kissed down her neck. She made her way along the collar of the older woman's dress and gently bit at her collar bone, relishing in soft moan she caused.

"Rey." Her name sounded sinful on Leia's lips, on the sigh that escaped and the fingernails, perfectly manicured, that bit into the skin of her scalp. The Jedi's hands grasped at the fabric that covered the older woman's hips as her mouth and teeth made their way down her chest, between her breasts. Her fingers flexed in the material, bunching it and pulling it up inch by inch.

"Stop," Leia whispered in her ear. "We have to talk about this, Rey."

The young woman dropped her forehead to the older woman's sternum and was gasping for breath as she struggled to contain her need to touch her general. "I love you, Leia. If we do this, if you truly want to know everything, then we will have to do this slowly. We have to do this at my pace." Tears slowly began to leak from Rey's eyes and her voice broke. Her memories were swimming through her head and several of her scars ached. She had never let herself mourn her past. Knowing that Leia was here with her, willing to help shoulder the burden, helped her to let go.

"Oh, Sweetheart." The Senator sat up and wrapped both arms around her young partner. "I would never, ever force you to talk about something that you didn't wish to speak about. I never have."

"I know you haven't." Rey sniffed. She struggled to control her emotions. She tried to keep her voice steady and fight back the tears that continued to fall. "I never worried that you would."

The older woman shushed her and ran her fingers gently through her hair. "I know that I have been horrible to you before. I want so much to make up for that. If knowing what happened to you and understanding the pain that you have been through, the pain that led you to take in two children, call my son, and flee your home, if I can help you carry that pain, then it is only a small portion of what I have to make up for."

"You don't owe me anything, Leia."

"Shhh, I know you think that. I have to do this, however. If only for my own peace of mind."

The two didn't move for a long time, content to just lay with each other, caressing and touching. They both knew that neither was ready to progress any further than that tonight. Rey was too raw to speak of anything more than what she had already said, and Leia knew better than to push. The long years without her lover had been enough to teach her that she wouldn't always get things the way she wanted. She had wanted Rey to tell her the truth about Ben helping her all those years ago. That hadn't happened. She had wanted Rey to come back after the conflict between them in the caves, had screamed it from the opening to the system. That hadn't happened either. She had begged her son to bring her back. To tell her where she was so that she could go get her. He had refused, choosing instead to protect her from the violence his mother had displayed the last time they had been in the same room. She knew her son loved Rey, knew that he would do anything for her, just as she would for him.

"I know you have to do this, I know that you think that you have to make up for the things that happened between us, but Leia, you have to understand that we both made mistakes that day. I never should have tried to confront Hux on my own. I never should have kept my bond to Ben a secret from you. I should have trusted you to help me keep him safe."

"That may be true, but I never should have gotten violent with you. I never should have raised a hand to you and hurt you the way I did."

Rey laughed. "My best friend tried to kill me on multiple occasions," Rey sat up and moved to the other end of the couch. "If I distrusted or got angry at everyone who ever raised a hand to me, I would have starved or died of my injuries years before we ever met. I'm used to it." She helped Leia sit back up, and then was quick to straddle her legs and thread her fingers into her hair. "Don't feel bad about it. Ben and I have a wonderful relationship. I trust him, and you, enough to stay with my children. I do not blame either of you for the circumstances that happened."

"You shouldn't have had to get used to it, my darling. You should never have been dealt the hand that you were. You should never have been forced to live the way you have. I cannot tell you how much I regret that I played a part in that aspect of your life." Leia's hands found their way to her hips and held on.

Rey chuckled but quickly had to backtrack at the look of annoyance on Leia's face. "I was dealt the hand I was dealt. There is no changing it or fixing it. There is no point in should haves or ifs, my love. I survived. We are together. That's all that matters. Don't be upset with me for laughing. I didn't mean anything by it."

Leia lurched forward and caught Rey's lips in a desperate kiss. Her hands fisted in her hair and flipped them around so that she was sitting atop Rey's thighs, and the younger woman was lying, prone, on the couch beneath her. She was quick to divest them both of their clothes, leaving them in only their underthings and bare skin.

Rey wasted no time in dragging Leia down against her and running her hands over her back and her body. She arched up into Leia's touch as the older woman bit down on the soft skin of her breast through the fabric of her breast bindings. Her body writhed when Leia dragged her tongue along the long scar, from her left hip across her abdomen and all the way up to where is disappeared beneath the cloth on her chest. Shudders wracked her body and she whined when Leia's nails dragged across her scalp and yanked her head back to feast on the flesh of her neck.

"I love you, Rey."

"I love you too, Leia."

That was all it took. Leia grasped the younger woman and hauled her off the couch and pulled her towards the bedroom. She was desperate for her lover. Grasping and holding her close and kissing her fiercely.

Rey could feel Leia's desperation and decided then and there to take over. Waving her hand and closing the door. She pulled away from Leia and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, my love. We have all night." she ran her hands along the strong shoulders of her lover and up into her hair, laying slow gentle kisses on her cheeks and jaw. "There is no reason to rush," an open mouthed kiss to her neck, "we have all the time in the world."

Leia was trapped in the quiet spell woven by her lover. Unable to do anything but feel as the young woman her hands ran over her body and her mouth over the flesh of her upper chest. She was glued to the spot as Rey slipped to her knees in front of her and nuzzled the soft skin of her stomach and scratched gentle marks across her hips. Gasps escaped her as she felt fingers and tongue dance along the edge of her underwear. Heat flooded her body and her hands snapped out and grabbed her lover's on a moan when she felt the gentle tug that would have drawn them and her to the floor. "Wait."

Rey looked up and saw Leia shaking in front of her. Without thinking twice the Jedi stood and in one fluid motion had swept the Senator off her feet and deposited her on her bed. When the hands of her older lover reached for her she stopped them to look her in the eyes. Thinking back to all those years ago, to the day on the _Falcon _and in the caves of Hypori, she knew what to say and pinned her lover under her. "Tell me, Leia. Tell me you want this, that you want me. We have talked about me wanting you, about us starting this relationship again, but right here, right now need to hear you say that you want me."

Leia's fingers laced through the long brown tresses of Rey's hair and pulled their foreheads together. "I want you. I want you more than I have ever wanted anyone else. Please, please Rey, don't stop now."

"I have no intentions of stopping." Rey growled, sitting up and reached behind herself to begin unwinding the bands that held her breasts in place. Leia watched as inch by slow inch her lover revealed her dark tanned skin, and once the strip of cloth was gone, she sat up and took a single, tightly puckered nipple into her mouth. She heard Rey keen above her and hummed around the flesh, dragging her teeth lightly. She pulled and tugged, before biting down hard, listening to Rey cry out and feeling her fingers tug at her hair. They rolled and Leia ended up laying a top her lover, between her legs. Their most intimate places pressed together and they both gasped. The older woman laid herself completely along the length on the younger and moved, just so, grinding herself against the body beneath hers.

Rey was lost, her entire being floating within a sea of pleasure, rushing towards a precipice that she knew would shatter her already tenuous control on her mind. Reaching up she pulled Leia to her, connected their foreheads, and let go.

Leia's mind was flooded with white hot need, desperation, and all encompassing love. She felt everything that she was doing to Rey and everything that Rey needed. Suddenly, she needed it too.

They moved together, chasing the cliff together, needy and desperate; whimpering and crying out softly. Leia's hands were everywhere, Rey's gasps fueling their journey. The young woman was hovering, close to the edge, by the time Leia's fingers were poised outside her running teasingly over the slick, wet heat.

"Please," Rey begged. "Please. I'm-close."

So Leia gave it to her. Her fingers entered roughly and that was all it took. Rey came apart beneath her. Screaming her name and arching off the bed, her hips grinding against the older womans hitting at just the right angle to fling the senator over the edge of bliss with her. They rode their passion together until both were shaking and curled around each other. Neither said a word, choosing instead to languish here in their post coital bliss. Their minds brushing in ways they hadn't in over five years.

Sleep crept over them both and Rey found herself standing in a warm well lit room. She glanced around, only to find Leia, standing across the room. She was sifting through pages and documents, staring at maps and tears were coursing down her face. That's when Rey heard the whisper. A barely audible utterance of "Where are you, Rey", hit the Jedi's ears and she finally understood. A nightmare.

"I'm right here, Leia." The tear stained face snapped up and stared at her lover. "It's oddly fitting that this time, just as we begin us again, it begins with another nightmare, don't you think?" Rey opened her arms and accepted the shorter woman into them when she flung herself across the room. "I pulled you into mine all those years ago. Now you are pulling me into yours."

"I love you, Rey."

"I love you, too, Leia."

"No more nightmares, agreed?" The Senator looked up at her Jedi and smiled.

"No more nightmares." and with that, Leia led the young woman to the window, and they watched the sunrise together in their own little world that belonged only to them.


End file.
